Department for Education publish Trust Quality Descriptions

In the Schools White Paper, the Department published five pillars of quality for Multi Academy Trust, these have been modified slightly as follows:

1. High Quality and Inclusive Education
2. School Improvement
3. Workforce
4.  Finance and Operations
5. Governance and Leadership.

As part of the Academies Regulatory and Commissioning Review, The DfE committed to build on the White Paper by setting out more detailed descriptions of each pillar, this trust quality descriptions document does this.

One of the purposes of the descriptions is to provide greater clarity, helping to inform trusts’ improvement and capacity-building priorities. The role of government is to define the outcomes the DfE wants trusts to achieve, but it is for the sector to identify and implement the most effective approaches to achieve them. As such, they have tried to avoid the descriptions stating how trusts should deliver outcomes. The descriptions will also inform policy-making and operational decision-making by the Department. In June 2023, they will publish more detailed commissioning guidance.

The NGA has published a response to the trust quality descriptions and they say: “The importance of local governance was identified by the white paper, and a significant proportion of governance functions are carried out by the local tier in most trusts. We were therefore deeply disappointed that local governance was entirely neglected by the trust quality descriptions.”

Are you a chair in either a maintained school or academy? Would you like to hear more about the plans to increase the number of academies in the South West?  If so, please make sure that you book into the DAG Community Networks Chairs’ Forum on Monday 26^th June 2023, where the speaker will be Hannah Woodhouse, Regional Director South West. Book your place at [email protected]